Concerning the Institutions of Art Education (1897)

Transcription

1 Concerning the Institutions of Art Education (1897) Okakura Kakuzō, Kevin Singleton Review of Japanese Culture and Society, Volume 24, 2012, pp (Article) Published by University of Hawai'i Press DOI: For additional information about this article Accessed 21 Nov :00 GMT

2 Concerning the Institutions of Art Education (1897) Okakura Kakuzō Translated by Kevin Singleton As a matter of course, art gives expression to people s thoughts and emotions and is of absolute necessity a prime vessel of civilization. The importance of its relationship to the national economy is also beyond debate. The natural talents of our nation s people, having certain inimitable characteristics, are particularly suited to artistic craft and for this reason, the glory and profit our manufacturing industry has enjoyed in foreign trade is due not to the firm and sound quality of its mechanical production, but rather to the refined splendor of our artistic tastes. It is my belief that the future of enterprise in this country should not rely only on products from nature. Industrial development is also a matter of the utmost concern. Thus, although it is at present imperative that we foster the development of our mechanical industry, which is currently in its infancy, with regards to the art industry, 1 our particular strength, we must preserve its existing level and further efforts to render it a source of national wealth. Were we to begin with the unique aspects of our lacquerware, bronzeware metal engravings, wood carvings, ceramics and cloisonné, woven and embroidered textiles, and all other artistic manufactures, and make adjustments to them according to foreign demand, we could expect that before long our exports would increase several times over. However, given the current situation, I foresee a grave concern, namely, that the situation resulting from the Restoration threatens to sever entirely the traditions of our art. The reason for the splendor of our fine arts, which now shed our nation s light even on foreign lands, lies in the fact that until now the graces of the imperial family and stipends from the shogunate and its vassals have provided the means to protect artists and for masters to cultivate disciples. However, at present, the pathways by which art had been encouraged and supported have been peremptorily blocked, and the light of the torch is dying out before it has been passed on. The old master craftsmen eking out an existence today on the meager skills acquired in the final days of the Tokugawa era are already few and far between. There are certain 184 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY DECEMBER 2012

3 techniques we shall lose for all time, following the demise of one or two declining elders. This is to say nothing of the hallowed masterpieces and treasures, indices of such exquisite subtlety, which year after year are carried abroad pell-mell, leaving behind not even a shadow of their glory. Now, to hope for prosperity in the trade of our fine arts with things as they are is akin to expecting water to flow with abundance when we have blocked its source. In the realm of trade, in our present condition we merely rely on the virtues of our forefathers as an emergency stopgap measure. Collecting momentary profits from items of inferior design, haphazardly produced, in no wise forms a solid plan to last the century. How can such a state continue for very long? Recently, we have seen the establishment of exhibitions and competitive exhibitions. It has not required an expert to see that although art education appears to have begun in earnest, the miniscule scale and the contracted reach of the arrangements have precluded regaining our former glory. If future generations were to inquire into the responsibility of the Meiji period in preserving the arts that have long been our special strength, how would we answer them? The crisis at hand truly causes one to feel sorrow. Meanwhile, on observing the state of affairs in Europe, we see that within the administrative apparatus, a Ministry of Art or a special department for art has been established, some of which are administered by national or local funds, others by private means. All levels of society are united in their efforts at preservation and support. In France, the budget for the Ministry of Art is no less than 12,760,000 francs (this is not from a recent survey, but there is likely not much difference in the number). In Europe and America it is no wonder that they are able not only to govern artistic taste in and generate tremendous revenue from the export of artistic manufactures, but also to attract the world s surplus wealth to their borders. Though our country is yet to become the France of the East forthwith, it is essential that we make preparations to hold our own against other nations. There are many paths to the recovery and expansion of our art. One is to make an examination of our national treasures and guard against their dispersal and destruction. Another is to observe and report on artistic tastes at home and abroad, to accommodate the practical application of our crafts. Yet another is to regulate artistic commerce while providing appropriate protections, as in the case of other manufacture enterprises. Many such institutions are of necessity, but in the face of the crisis of immanent extinction of our art, nothing surpasses art education for laying the basic foundations of art. I shall here attempt to examine the state of the institutions for art education in foreign countries. Art Education in Foreign Countries The sources and sway of wealth in the many nations of the West have never been one and the same. Though it follows that there might also be disparities among the institutions for art education, recently there is a generally shared goal of pouring the greatest amount of effort into this area. We learn from each and every report on educational affairs that authorities place focus on classes in painting, drawing, and handcrafts at the elementary DECEMBER 2012 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY 185

4 level, which are the fundamentals of a technical art education, and that there is an astonishing increase in the number of public technical art schools concerned with the local art industry. 2 Furthermore, there are also many different kinds of art schools maintained by national funding. National Art Schools In France, the schools maintained by national funds are: 1. The National School of Fine Arts (École nationale des beaux-arts) Located in Paris. Teaches painting, sculpture, and architecture. The faculty comprises various contemporary masters. 2. The French Academy in Rome (Académie de France à Rome) Located in Rome. Superior students of the National School of Fine Arts in Paris who win the Prix de Rome study here for three years. 3. The National School of Decorative Arts (École nationale des arts décoratifs) Located in Paris. Specializes in teaching design related to the decorative arts and sculpture. 4. Nationally Administered Regional Art Schools Located in Lyons, Dijon, Limoges, Roubaix, Bourges, Nice, Aubosson. 5. The National School of Drawing for Girls (École nationale de dessin pour les jeunes filles) Located in Paris. In addition to these, the sectors of the art industry peculiar to France, for which production facilities have been built with national funding and which maintain standards of production are as follows. (Some are said to have become private enterprises in recent years.) National Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory National Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory National Sèvres Ceramics Manufactory National Mosaic Manufactory In Great Britain, aside from the art school affiliated with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, there is the great National Art Training School in South Kensington. In addition to these, the government has established regional art schools in Birmingham, Glasgow, Nottingham, and Belfast, which are also famous. The art schools in the German Confederation are primarily in the state of Bavaria. The art school in the capital of Munich could hold its own against Paris, and Nuremburg s Academy of Fine Arts (Akademie der Bildenden Künste) enjoys a reputation for proper organization second only to Great Britain s school in South Kensington. Prussia has 186 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY DECEMBER 2012

5 recently begun focusing on the arts, and the Berlin State School of Fine Arts (Staatlichen Hochschule für Bildende Künste) and the school affiliated with the German Museum of Decorative Arts (Kunstgewerbemuseum) are especially magnificent. The German national assembly once passed a subsidy bill to the amount of 140,000 marks (roughly 70,000 of our yen) to protect the national ceramics manufactory. There are national art schools in Austria, Belgium, and Spain, all of which strive to promote the arts, but they have not yet attained the level of France, Great Britain, or Germany. Competitive Art Exhibitions and Fine Art Academies Matters of art education are not limited to schools. There must be methods to further refine the abilities of graduates from the national art schools and well-established artists. At this level, it is impossible to accomplish anything through structured curricula, hence the institution of the competitive art exhibition. Subsequently, those who receive the highest awards in competitions, and who are to be revered as national exemplars, require access to the proper treatment due them, hence the establishment of the art academy. These two institutions of the art exhibition and the academy are sometimes established separately, while in some instances the art academy is given control over matters of competitive exhibitions and higher education in the arts. Though these institutions may appear to lie outside the scope of education, they are essential; in substance, they follow the same track as general education, in which graduate school exists for studies beyond the undergraduate level and doctoral meetings are held to confer doctoral degrees on those who have plumbed the mysteries of their fields of study. The French Academy of Fine Arts, as a member academy of the Institut de France, has forty regular members. Britain s Royal Academy of Fine Arts has at present forty-two regular members and thirty-one associate members, all of whom are royally appointed, and those selected to the presidency of the academy are bestowed with the title of baron. The academy holds an annual competitive exhibition, and academy members are in charge of instruction at the affiliated art school. Art Museums Even with local technical art schools, national schools of fine arts, competitive art exhibitions, and an academy of fine arts the art education apparatus remains incomplete. Though instruction of actual technique ought to be provided through oral instruction from a master teacher and with the use of model examples, other sample works are required to serve as references that will allow younger generations to recognize broad distinctions among different styles, to understand their application, and to be exposed to the sublime techniques of ages past. These sample artworks have the same value as books have in other areas of knowledge. Thus, the establishment and expansion of regional and national art museums in Europe and America have lately increased at a stupendous rate. DECEMBER 2012 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY 187

6 National art museums are largely established as independent institutions, but regional art museums, as a matter of convenience, are often established in conjunction with art schools. All know of the power of France s great national art museums at the Louvre, the Luxembourg Palace, and the Trocadero, which are conducive to studies by experts and guide the tastes of the common people through the exhibition of artworks both old and new. In addition, hardly any of the regional capitals of France are without one museum. Great Britain has the British Museum, the National Gallery, the South Kensington Museum of Art, and seventeen local museums related to art industry. Even without discussing the great museums of the capitals of the European continent, famed for their ancient collections, we see a great many new facilities built to meet the necessities of art education. The number is truly astounding in cases such as the state capitals of the United States. In short, despite differences among individual countries, it is manifest that efforts to establish facilities for art education in the West are making great and glorious strides in encouraging the arts. Art Education Standards to Be Applied in Our Country The West operates under a set of conditions, and our country has needs of its own. An informed individual would not be dazzled by the West s glamour or vainly study its superficial aspects. Though we must naturally utilize the various preparatory measures that appear in the West, we must also be very selective regarding the spirit and application of the system of art education we are to build. It is my opinion that given the nature of our country s art, there are more than a few matters of taste in which we differ from the West. To provide one example, we do not, as the Europeans do, apply artificial distinctions between pure or high art and industrial art (also called decorative art or applied art). 3 In all actuality, one should not force a distinction between pure and applied art. The advanced countries of Europe have lately come to acknowledge this fact more and more (refer to the summary of the curriculum at the French National School of Fine Arts), but there is still a tendency, related to the history of the artistic profession in Europe over the course of several centuries, to draw a mysterious distinction between the two, which remains to be reconciled. In contrast, there is no such distinction in our country, where metalworkers stand alongside woodcarvers. Is not the direct utilization of painting as pattern characteristic of our national art? We thus must base our program for art education on these special qualities. France may have built a school of decorative art separate from the national art school to teach so-called high art, and Great Britain may have established a National Art Training School in South Kensington apart from the Royal Academy Schools, but in our country, we must rather merge these institutions. This is all the more necessary for techniques that in other countries are undeveloped or still in their infancy, but which, in our country, have made great strides and attained the reaches of high art. Maki-e lacquering and metalwork are prime examples. In our art educational organization, these points are of particular advantage in linking higher schools of fine 188 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY DECEMBER 2012

7 arts with normal technical art schools. 4 There are additionally many differences in aspects of actual instruction between Japan and the West. Above all, there is at present in our country a need for attention to be paid to the existence of different schools within individual art forms. By the graces of the imperial family, artisan lineages have remained unbroken, each passing on the techniques to successive generations. Furthermore, the difficulty of transportation between regions has resulted in the proliferation of many separate traditions. We cannot be certain that future societal transformations will not necessitate that these schools be united and combined, as they have been in Europe. However, at present, in laying the educational foundations for the development of art, we must cast a broad net to encompass as many of these schools as possible, so that no techniques are lost to oblivion. Ultimately, we must institute methods in our country s art education that are rooted in our special characteristics, which will truly be to our profit. In considering not only the practical skills of art-making but also more broadly the national state of affairs, we can see in foreign countries elements that should not be immediately emulated. We must of course take into account differences in the national economy along with the differences in the importance and extent of institutions according to their relative ordering. In these foreign nations, artistic enterprise has come into its own after centuries of state protection, and it is likely that there are now enterprises that do not necessarily require the great amounts of national funding of previous days; others may, depending on the scope of private enterprise, be partially entrusted to the private sector without detriment. This is incommensurable with the current situation in our country, which has been endeavoring for the last three decades to regain its former vigor in the wake of such destruction. France s National School of Fine Arts opened in 1655, and the School of Decorative Art opened in Great Britain s Royal Academy was built in 1768, and the school in South Kensington has already existed for forty-two years. These institutions continue to expand in scale, even now after such a long history. There is no question that we must put a comparatively greater amount of energy into our nation s present institutions and not obstinately stick to old ways in laying out organizational plans. I have attempted a consideration of the standards for art education appropriate to our nation. At the very least, the following preparatory measures are crucial. 1. Higher Schools of Fine Arts Under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and maintained by national funds, these schools will exist primarily to train professional artists as well as potential teachers for the regional technical art schools, in order to preserve and guide the foundations of our art. 2. Technical Art Schools Under the jurisdiction of local authorities and maintained by local funds or subsidized by the national treasury, these schools will exist primarily to train future workers in the art industry, to prepare students for entrance into the higher schools, and to lay open a direct path to increased production. DECEMBER 2012 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY 189

8 3. An Academy of Fine Arts Under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Imperial Household or the Ministry of Education, the Academy will comprise noted artisans and master artists from around the nation. It will provide annual stipends as well as engage members in the creation of exquisite productions for the use of the Imperial family, in order to maintain the highest level of our country s art. 4. Regional Museums with Reference Collections 5 Under the jurisdiction of local authorities and sustained by local funds or subsidized by the national treasury, these museums will collect copy works and other samples that can serve as reference material for an art curriculum or curricula necessary in the region, for the convenience of both local entrepreneurs as well as technical art schools. 5. National Museums Under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Imperial Household or the Ministry of Education, the national museum will collect old and modern masterpieces and establish norms of excellence in order to benefit artists and enhance the splendor of the state. The education system will only be wholly effective once these various organizations achieve a well-ordered harmony. If the above five elements are not in communication and accordance with each other, then we cannot expect our art to flourish. However, these organizations cannot all be established in one day. In gauging the relative urgency of affairs, we note that our masters have grown old and that some lineages of techniques are hanging by a single fine thread. We must first apply our energies to training the professional artists who will be their successors in order to prevent these skills from falling into complete oblivion. At the same time, we need to lay plans to acquire the artisans who will be engaged in increasing actual artistic production in order to cultivate broadly a source of wealth. Among the urgencies at hand, none is more pressing than the task of preparing the higher art schools and regional technical art schools. Even if there were local and national museums, without practitioners to utilize them, they would be of little use beyond expanding the knowledge of the public. Even if there was an Academy of Fine Arts, without those who can succeed the older masters once they are long gone, the Academy would be ultimately nothing more than an extravagance. To wit, our most urgent concern lies precisely in the establishment of these two varieties of schools. I shall discuss their general outline. As stated earlier, in the rush to establish the manifold societal undertakings following the events of the Restoration, art lost the protection of domain governments and was ignored for nearly twenty years, during which time noted masters and elder artisans were reduced to the state of impoverished vagabonds, and the various arts forming the mana of our national essence tottered on the brink of extinction. Happily, a school of fine arts was built in Tokyo, and many techniques escaped sad doom by a single thread. However, if we are complacent with the status quo, then it remains unknown as to when 190 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY DECEMBER 2012

9 we shall regain once more the glory of past times. Currently, art education, both at the primary and advanced levels, rests solely in the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. Nonetheless, at present there exists neither the means outside the school to prepare incoming students, nor a place to draw the vast knowledge of good teachers. The previous war acted as an expedient means for the great flourishing of many enterprises, with both public and private sectors harboring plans for permanent expansion. However, if art education alone is currently in a state of stagnation art being the flower of civilization and a great phenomenon of peace it will have an indisputable influence on the future character of our nation s people and also undeniably determine the success or failure of our nation s industry as well as its many crafts. Among those who reflect upon the history of our art, consider its future and so fret over the defects of the present, who does not feel the immediate necessity of establishment of art schools at the higher level? 1. Higher Schools of Fine Arts It is necessary to build one such school in Tokyo and in Kyoto. The reasons are as follows. First, as these two cities developed in different eras, not only are there distinct methods and tastes, in keeping with the forms and schools of the various arts that have evolved in each locale, but also the differences in the environment and local manners have naturally given rise to corresponding differences in the strengths and weaknesses of artistic and craft production. Therefore, there are more than a few courses of study that would not be established conveniently in Tokyo and would rather be placed more profitably in Kyoto. Second, art s great illness is that it can slip into mediocrity or fall into rigidity, such that before one is aware of it, an art diminishes and withers within its own fixed patterns. This is not only something we see at the height of any given style or school, but is also a situation that results frequently when certain techniques receive special governmental protection. Therefore, placing two opposing schools one in the east and one in the west each differing in its predilections and offering distinct techniques so that the one could learn from the other and the two could compete for the greatest results, would, it is my hope, ward off the danger of lapsing into a single fixed pattern. Encouraging competition in this way would long sustain the energy needed for innovative activity. It is my opinion that the overall organization of the Tokyo Higher Art School could be provided by that of the existing Tokyo School of Fine Arts. However, taking into consideration the current national situation, and in comparison to other countries, the Tokyo School of Fine Arts is too small in scale, its budget insufficient, and the school building suffers from too many defects, so that we will need to construct new facilities and expand as a matter of course from time to time. I propose the following curricula that should be added to inaugurate the school s expansion. 1. An Architecture Curriculum focusing primarily on architectural decoration 2. Western Sculpture as a component of the sculpture curriculum DECEMBER 2012 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY 191

10 3. A Block Carving Curriculum in response to the demand for printing skills Additionally, I mention the following curricula to be established in the Kyoto Higher Art School, which are the same as the Tokyo school in scope, qualifications, and purpose: 1. Textiles 2. Embroidery 3. Yūzen Dyeing 4. Ceramics 5. Cloisonné Ware 6. Painting (Fujiwara-style, Kyoto School) 7. Design 2. Technical Art Schools I next outline the establishment of schools of art industry that ought to be built in regional areas. 6 First, the many supplementary vocational schools that have been built recently should continue to perfect their arrangements and be ever more practical in their manner of instruction, 7 in order to equip graduates with the techniques either for immediate application to actual work, or to advance to one of the higher art schools. Second, in those regions important to arts industry, the government should establish model schools that could serve as examples. I propose below the locations that are in need of such an institution, along with the curricula for each. A. Nagoya (cloisonné ware, ceramics) B. Ashikaga (or Kiryū) (textiles, dyeing) C. Kanazawa (lacquerware, ceramics) D. Toyama (bronzeware) E. Arita (ceramics) In addition to these, we could establish such schools with appropriate curricula in the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, as the necessity arises. 3. The Academy of Fine Arts I have already spoken of the purpose an Academy of Fine Arts would serve. Therefore, I shall only address the necessity for its establishment and its overall structure. First, at present, the masters and artisans from the final years of the Tokugawa period are gradually passing away, and soon there will be nobody who has knowledge of the old techniques and can transmit them to later generations. The grace of imperial patronage is no more, and we lament the closing of the road by which the younger generations had been heretofore guided. In the future, when we seek to expand the art schools and incrementally advance their level, this problem will inevitably create difficulties in the appointment of instructors. Master artists and artisans are not made in a single day, and this fact makes us aware of the present necessity to train them. Second, in observing today those who 192 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY DECEMBER 2012

11 are called young artists, we see that those not pressed by the exigencies of making a living, forced out into society, or scrambling to support themselves by a single technique or trick they have managed to acquire, are a rare breed indeed. They are all bound by the fashions of the base and vulgar world, in hard and unceasing toil, until finally they expire having accomplished little, never having been able to exercise their mighty limbs. We see here the increasing necessity to offer commensurate assistance to allow them the leeway to accomplish great things later in life. Third, the epicenter of intellectual trends and the locus of the arts and sciences are never far from the seat of politics. This is why the wellspring of art has always lain at the foot of the imperial carriage. Thus, though it is a matter of course that an academy should be established in Tokyo, there is an urgent need to place branch research facilities in Nara and the capitals of previous ages, which are the richest sources of artistic materials and suitable for observation and thoughtful meditation. Fourth, as the Academy of Fine Arts is to be purely a place to research practical technique, its subjects should be included in the curricula of the Higher Art Schools. Fifth, the researchers at the Academy should be selected from the superior graduates of the Higher Art Schools or from those who have won prestigious prizes in public exhibitions. Sixth, its members should be kept to a modest number, with tenures of three years, and provided with stipends and the funds to create their works. Seventh, I believe that, in certain cases, researchers should be selected to study abroad in foreign countries. 4. Regional Museums with Reference Collections The reason for the establishment of regional museums is as follows. They would be roughly similar to the national museum. However, given that history is linked to the material remains of the past, and that art includes massive, immovable objects, even if a museum does not especially provide reference materials for the local schools of art industry, it is still necessary to build these local institutions separately as required, and we may establish such museums at famous historical sites or in important urban centers of production. Were I to speak of the locations for candidate museums along with their primary objects of display, the outline would be as follows. 1. Near the Great Shrine at Ise (Shinto artifacts, objects from before the Nara period) 2. Mount Kōya in Kii (objects related to the Kōnin era ( )) 3. Itsukushima in Aki (artifacts from the Taira period) 4. Chūsonji in Rikuchū (objects related to the culture of the Tōhoku region, artifacts from the era of the Northern Fujiwara) 5. Kamakura in Sagami (artifacts from the Kamakura period) 6. Hakata or Dazaifu in Chikuzen (objects related to foreign trade, objects related to the Mongol invasion) 7. Kanshinji in Kawachi (artifacts from the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties) DECEMBER 2012 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY 193

12 8. Ōmishima Shrine and importance places in Sanuki in Shikoku (objects related to the culture of Shikoku, implements of war from various periods) 9. Ōsaka in Settsu (artifacts from the Warring States period, artifacts from the Toyotomi Period) 10. Nagoya in Owari (artifacts from the Tokugawa period, regional crafts) 11. Kanazawa in Kaga (artifacts from the Tokugawa period, regional crafts) 12. Kumamoto in Higo (objects related to the culture of Kyūshū, regional artifacts) 5. National Art Museums The reasons for the establishment of fully-equipped national museums are already well understood, and I do not need to speak of it here at length, yet there are perhaps two reasons why it is of especially pressing need. First, it goes without saying that a museum provides essential reference materials for fine arts as well as art industry. For this reason, the countries of Europe and America all pour their national strength into their museums and compete with each other when augmenting their facilities. In our country, where the promotion of art education is a pressing issue, how can we not but place our entire spirit into this endeavor? The purpose of a museum, as one part of the art education system, should extend beyond reliance on the present facilities of the Imperial Household. 8 In unifying the entire system of art, the necessity is all the greater for the national museum to stand within the same apparatus as art education. Second, while it is urgent that we discuss laws to preserve our nation s ancient temples and shrines, the pressures of national expenditures precludes the possibility of a quick resolution. Were we to extend the scale and plans for the museum and gather for display the treasures and implements from shrines and temples, this would, at present, dovetail with the preservation law and benefit both history and art in a single stroke. I aver that this is the quickest path to the preservation of our national treasures. Within the domain of art we may locate the thoughts, transformations, and fashions of an era, and history is often most clearly manifested in finely wrought works. Therefore, on this point, historical art and history are one and the same, and the argument could be made that an art museum would by its very nature be a history museum. By historical precedent and present necessity, I am in favor of establishing national museums in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara, but this does not mean that we require special facilities. We can simply take the organization of the departments of History, Fine Art, and Art Industry at the present Imperial Museums as a basis and then consider what might be further expanded and enriched. Ah, long has the matter of art education been relegated to silent neglect. To those who value the culture of this imperial nation and are concerned about the future of its industry, I express my wish for the solid design of a great number of facilities of art 194 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY DECEMBER 2012

13 education, making them a reality, to thereby preserve our distinctive artistic techniques from slipping into the empty shadows of the past. Translator s Notes Bijutsu kyōiku no shisetsu ni tsuite. Originally published in Hansei zasshi (The Temperance Journal), vol. 12, nos. 7-8, Reprint, vol. 3 of Okakura Tenshin zenshū (The Collected Works of Okakura Tenshin) (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1980): art industry, bijutsu kōgyō. In this essay, the terms bijutsu kōgyō, bijutsu jitsugyō, and bijutsu kōgei are used synonymously and have each been rendered as art industry. 2. painting and drawing, zuga; handcrafts, shukō; public technical art schools, gigei gakkō. 3. pure art, junsei bijutsu; high art, kōtō bijutsu; industrial art, kōgyō bijutsu; decorative art, sōshoku bijutsu; applied art, ōyō bijutsu. 4. higher schools of fine arts, kōtō bijutsu gakkō; normal technical art schools, futsū gigei gakkō. 5. regional museums with reference collections, chihō sankō kan. 6. schools of art industry, bijutsu kō-gei gakkō. 7. supplementary vocational schools, jitsugyō hoshū gakkō. 8. By 1897 the Japanese government had established three national museums in Tokyo, Nara, and Kyoto. The Museum in Ueno Park (today s Tokyo National Museum) opened its door to the public in In 1888, the responsibility of national museum administration was transfered from the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce (Nōshōmushō) to the Ministry of the Imperial Household (Kunaishō), and in the following year the Museum was renamed the Imperial Museum (Teikoku Hakubutsukan). At this time, the government also announced its plan to establish the Imperial Nara Museum (opened in 1895) and the Imperial Kyoto Museum (opened in 1897). Okakura served as a board member (riji) and also as the Director (buchō) of the Fine Arts Department at the Imperial Museum in Ueno from the time of its inauguration in 1889 until DECEMBER 2012 REVIEW OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY 195